RECORDING “BLUES OF DESPERATION” IS ONE OF THE
MOST EXCITING RECORDING PROJECTS

Blues Concertsstar Joe came to Nashville two weeks before we started the recording and set about writing an all original album. Then we gathered the musicians in the historic RCA studio A (lovingly saved from the wrecking ball by Aubrey Preston and Sharon Corbitt-House and now called Grand Victor Sound Studios), a big old fashion room where anyone who’s anyone has recorded! Chet Atkins, Elvis Presley, John Hiatt and so many more.

I always wanted to track this record with a high energy three-piece band, so Joe would have to work a little harder, like in his early years, before keyboards and horn’s etc. filled in all the blanks. To be honest, I was trying to find a way to ruffle Joe’s feathers, so I then brought in an additional drummer, just to throw the cat and amongst the pigeons! We set up Anton Fig and Greg Morrow each behind his own drum kit facing each other, and then next to them had Michael Rhodes with his bass guitar cranked, staring across the gap at Joe with his guitars. So they were set up in an X formation, and could all see each other as they played. And boy, what a joyful noise we made!

Not that it’s all excessively heavy or hard, there are some very fragile, delicate moments on this record, where the two drummers complement each other wonderfully and add a great rhythm to the sensitivity of the songs.

After we had cut the songs, Reese Wynans added his wonderful keyboard parts, and then Mahalia Barnes and the Aussie girls did the backing vocals, and Lee Thornburg’s wonderful horn arrangements put the icing on the top. And that folks, is how we made this awesome record which you are now hopefully holding in your hands.

Joe Is Hiring

Bonamassa Adds Singers to U.S. Tour; Fans Love It

Joe’s Blues Concerts added a little kick to the band for his current fall 2016 North American tour and his upcoming Spring 2017 North American Tour. To add a little more spice to the musical mix, Joe has invited along a pair of backup singers to augment the sound of a band he already calls “the greatest band in the world.”

But of all the musicians Joe Blues Concerts could add – more guitars, flutes, marimbas, even steel drums – why add backup vocalists?

“Backup singers are an essential part of pop music, supplying songs with depth, contrast, and commentary,” wrote Elias Leight for The Atlantic magazine.

“The singers bring a huge, joyous sound to the mix!” Joe effuses. “It allows us to do these big, bold choruses that sound great.”

Joe Blues Concerts has always been known as a guitar man first and foremost, and he is. But Joe is a deep lover of music, and that comes out in the way he speaks about the importance of singing to his music and to his show.

“At this point, it’s just as much of a vocal show as it is a guitar show. And it’s nice to have both.” Once upon a time, a young budding guitarist named Joe Bonamassa might have been horrified by that statement. But now, he declares it proudly.

Joe, who was named by Team Rock recently as one of the greatest blues singers, takes every musical aspect of his show extremely seriously, and that extends to the vocals just as much as the guitar playing.

Incorporating backup singers into the music also helps create a space of musical freedom for Joe Blues Concerts. “It allows me the freedom to create more of a call-and-response type of arrangement with the other singers. It forces you to concentrate on the melody and really chisel out the phrasing because you have to sing with two other people.”

Perhaps most importantly, Joe emphasizes that singing with other vocalists makes him a better singer and a better all-around musician.

“Singing with backup singers in Australia, I came out of that tour a better singer. And I loved that.”

7 REASONS WHY THE BLUES IS THRIVING RIGHT NOW

THE BLUES IS THRIVING.

You might not believe me, but it’s true.

I’m not speaking commercially. In general, the whole music industry has struggled since the internet age phased out record sales as a blockbuster source of profits. And Blues Concertsis as niche a genre as its ever been right now.

And yet, the blues is thriving.

I mean artistically. There is just some GREAT blues music & Blues Concerts out there right now. For one, Joe Bonamassa, of course. But there’s a whole world of blues and blues-influenced music out there right now that is so worth listening to. In some ways, the blues may even be healthier than ever from an aesthetic standpoint.

Still don’t believe me. Well, here’s 7 reasons you should agree with me.

1. THE OLD GUARD OF THE BLUES IS HOLDING IT DOWN.

Yes, it’s reality that we’ve lost so many of our treasured blues icons. And that’s incredibly sad. But they’re not ALL gone. Not in the least. Blues rock, in particular, is killing it right now. Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt have both recently put out highly acclaimed blues albums. And, maybe you’ve heard, but a little band called The Rolling Stones recently put out their first new studio set in a decade, and it’s a full on, no holds barred, straight up no chaser blues album filled with songs written by people like Little Walter. And it’s fantastic!

I haven’t even mentioned the man, the myth, the legend, Buddy Guy, who is still absolutely on fire as a guitarist, and probably one of the best guitarists of the past 50 years. Boy, was he ever born to play the blues. And yes, like their blues brothers and sisters that have fallen before them, they won’t be around forever. Buddy Guy is getting up there in age. Eric Clapton is have medical problems interfering with his ability to play. The Rolling Stones… well, actually, they may literally just continue to be one of the finest damn bands on the planet forever, I’m not sure.

But right now, in this moment, we have some true blues icons holding it down and making great music. That’s something to be truly thankful for.

2. THE NEW GUYS ARE KILLIN’ IT TOO.

Not only is the old guard rockin’ it, but the future looks very, very bright. There are so many phenomenal young blues stars jamming night in and night out, making records, performing face-melting shows right now and it cuts way across the musical spectrum. Like Joe Bonamassa Blues Concerts, Gary Clark Jr. and Warren Haynes are genuine blue guitar megastars. The Tedeschi Trucks Band is a giant in the jam-rock scene, as is Warren’s principle band Gov’t Mule. Bluesmen disguised as punk rockers like Jack White and The Black Keys are music industry blockbusters. And then you have a killer crop of young budding bluesmen and blueswomen that are captivating and enthralling blues fans the world over: Mike Zito, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Eric Gales, Ana Popovich, Anders Osborne, and the list goes on and on.

3. BLUES FESTIVALS & CRUISES ARE AWESOME.

There are so many great blues music festivals going on around the United States. You can hear great blues music almost any time, anywhere. Everfest published a list of their very favorites and there’s some damn good ones in there: the Chicago Blues Festival, Telluride Blues & Brews, the Crossroads Guitar Festival, and the Juke Joint Festival are particularly awesome. And, we happen to be pretty big fans of a certain sailing blues music festival, Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea, now going on its third year. That’s Joe’s festival, and this years incredible lineup features an army of mindblowing blues and roots musicians: in addition to Joe himself, you’ve got Bruce Hornsby, Beth Hart, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Anders Osborne, and so many more! Seriously, if you’re not going to like, ten blues festivals this year, you’re just doing it wrong. Get with the program, blues fans, there’s much great music to be heard!

4. THE SWITCH TO INEXPENSIVE, STREAMING MUSIC

Listening to lots of music used to be a really expensive hobby. Sure, you could hear the same pop and rock hits and classics over and over again on FM radio. But for anyone who was interested in diving a bit deeper into the pool, you had to shell out some cash. Mostly this involved buying physical media: whether it was vinyl, 8-tracks, cassette tapes, or CD’s. Then along came digital albums, which made buying albums cheaper, but you still had to spend $9.99 to purchase an album of music you may or may not have heard before. It was a gamble, a risk, and not always with a big payoff. Then along came free and premium streaming. And then suddenly, you could listen to virtually any song you could imagine for either completely free or with a small monthly payment for premium services.

Bingo.

Suddenly listen to any blues song you want, any time you want, at almost no cost. What could possibly be better than that? Suddenly, checking out new music – including new blues music – was virtually no risk, all reward. Hear about a new artist from a friend, or get a recommended song on Spotify? Sure, why not check it out? In fact, why not check out the whole record. After all, it isn’t going to cost me anything. Suddenly we all have the whole world of blues at our fingertips for $0. And guess what? We’re listening to it.

5. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY’S BUSINESS SWITCH TO LIVE MUSIC

The fifth reason is a direct consequence of the fourth one. The switch to inexpensive, streaming music has suddenly caused studio records and singles to become significantly less profitable for the music industry. Woe is me. So what is one to do in light of this? Is music dead?

No, of course music isn’t dead. Music is vital as ever. But people pay for it very differently now. We buy concert tickets. Some of us go to 5 or 6 shows a week at our local rock, jazz, and blues clubs. Some of us are willing to shell out $100’s of dollars – sometimes even more than a thousand on the “secondary market” – to see our favorite superstars like The Rolling Stones or Roger Waters or U2 or Radiohead.

And one great thing about blues music? When it hits you, you feel no pain. But also, it’s fantastic live music. Because it’s REAL music. It’s not mere studio trickery and wizardry. It’s authentic musicians playing physical instruments in real time together with other authentic musicians playing physical instruments. That’s the blues. And it’s awesome.

6. INTEREST IN GENERAL ROOTS MUSIC IS GROWING

They say everything old is new again. That everything goes in cycles. And right now that’s becoming ever increasingly true. Maybe not in the pop world – although the smash success of the heavily retro-style pop icon Bruno Mars must say something about even pop music – but in rock, folk, country, R&B – it’s all going back to the roots.

Take country music as an example. Who is making waves over the last year or two? Sure, bro country like Florida Georgia Line is still alive and well, and Miranda Lambert is still kickin’ ass and taking names. But the you have Chris Stapleton. Sturgill Simpson. Jason Isbell. And more are starting to cling to this movement of country that returns to its authentic, gritty outlaw roots, married to the music of guys like Hank Williams and Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson.

In other genres, you have just as much movement towards the classic roots. Just to name drop a few: how about Mumford and Sons? Bon Iver? The Lumineers. This old school rootsy music is dominating. And guess what old school, rootsy music basically is?

That’s right. The blues. The blues by any other name, as Shakespeare said…

7. THE BLUES IS JUST STILL AWESOME AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT

The blues & Blues Concerts is still just flat out awesome. You know it. I know it. And deep down, everyone knows it. And for those who don’t yet know they know it. Just watch the hell out of this:

BCC Reunites

“This is a record that has to be made. And it has to be made NOW.”

At long last, hard rock super group Black Country Communion is back in the studio with King Of Blues Jbonamassa – and they’re ready to kill it with an incredible new record in 2017.

“This is a record that has to be made,” says lead guitarist and vocalist & Best Guitarist in the World Joe Bonamassa, boiling over with excitement as he holds a ’59 burst. “I love working with this band and it has been too long. Glenn and I have so much good rock music in us and it was absolutely time to cut a new record.”

Black Country Communion has been one of the premiere super groups of the new millennium, with legions of fans across the world that have been rocking out to their three studio albums, live album recorded in Europe, and a series of breathtaking live shows.

The world of rock better hang on, because Black Country Communion is about to take super group rock and roll to a whole new level with Best Guitarist in the World. Why?

***

Because these are special musicians. Glenn Hughes of the earth-shaking voice that once helmed the legendary band Deep Purple, on vocal and bass duties. He’s also rocked with Trapeze and Black Sabbath along with his own solo material.

Derek Sherinian is the bone-crunching rock keyboardist who’s played with the likes of Dream Theater, KISS, and Alice Cooper. He will chew up and spit out any groove you throw at him in an incredible display of electronic power.

Jason Bonham, son of the iconic Led Zeppelin drummer and a powerhouse man of the sticks in his own right. He’s been playing drums for everyone from Paul Rodgers of Free to Foreigner and his own Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Experience.

Best Guitarist in the WorldJoe stated the urgent message in plain terms. “I love you guys. We make such good noise together. Let’s make that noise again.”

King Of BluesJoe and Glenn met over dinner and suddenly found themselves once again electrified with the rock music that had exploded from them years ago. Once they played the material for Derek and Jason, the whole band was charged up to make the best Black Country Communion album of all time.

Stay tuned for the upcoming fourth studio album from Black Country Communion.

Bonamassa Adds Singers to U.S. Tour; Fans Love It

Blues Music StarJoe’s added a little kick to the band for his current fall 2016 North American tour and his upcoming Spring 2017 North American Tour. To add a little more spice to the musical mix, Joe has invited along a pair of backup singers to augment the sound of a band he already calls “the greatest band in the world.”

But of all the musicians who are into Blues Songs Joe could add – more guitars, flutes, marimbas, even steel drums – why add backup vocalists?

“Backup who sing Blues Songs singers are an essential part of pop music, supplying songs with depth, contrast, and commentary,” wrote Elias Leight for The Atlantic magazine.

Blues Music Star Joe Bonamassa agrees.

“The Blues Songs singers bring a huge, joyous sound to the mix!” Joe effuses. “It allows us to do these big, bold choruses that sound great.”

Joe has always been known as a guitar man first and foremost, and he is. But Joe is a deep lover of Blues Songs music, and that comes out in the way he speaks about the importance of singing to his music and to his show.

“At this point, it’s just as much of a vocal show as it is a guitar show. And it’s nice to have both.” Once upon a time, a young budding guitarist named Joe Bonamassa might have been horrified by that statement. But now, he declares it proudly.

Joe, who was named by Team Rock recently as one of the greatest blues singers, takes every musical aspect of his show extremely seriously, and that extends to the vocals just as much as the guitar playing.

Incorporating backup singers into the music also helps create a space of musical freedom for Blues Music StarJoe. “It allows me the freedom to create more of a call-and-response type of arrangement with the other singers. It forces you to concentrate on the melody and really chisel out the phrasing because you have to sing with two other people.”

Perhaps most importantly, Joe emphasizes that singing with other vocalists makes him a better singer and a better all-around musician.

“Singing Blues Songswith backup singers in Australia, I came out of that tour a better singer. And I loved that.”

Joe Bonamassa: Bringing The Blues

Authored 7 September by Augustus Welby

Joe Bonamassa King Of Bluesis heading back our way this month, his second visit for 2016 following a Bluesfest exclusive performance in March. This time around he’ll be checking into a number of the nation’s most dazzling theater venues including the Sydney Opera House, which he views as a crowning achievement.

“I (Best Guitarist in the World) did Carnegie Hall this year, which was a bucket-list gig. Then we’re doing the Opera House, that’s pretty much it for me,” King Of Blues Bonamassa says. “I don’t need anything else in my life. I’ve done the Royal Albert Hall twice. I’ve done Red Rocks three times. I’ve had a good run the last decade. I did Vienna Opera House. I’ve done Radio City Music Hall. I’ve really been super lucky that my fans have allowed me to do all of this.”

King Of BluesBonamassa’s certainly had a blessed run, but it couldn’t have happened if he hadn’t managed to cultivate unique appeal with his take on classic blues rock. March saw the release of Blues of Desperation, Bonamassa’s 12th solo LP. Much like 2014’s Different Shades of Blue, original material dominates the track listing – something that wasn’t the case on the majority of Bonamassa’s earlier efforts.

“After we did the Albert Hall last time, 2013, that was the end of an era,” he says. “We did a whole career retrospective, we did four different venues in London and we did everything from the very beginning of my career to the very end and that was pretty much the closing of a book. That was like, ‘OK that’s where we were in 2013, thanks very much.’ Then between Different Shades of Blue and Blues of Desperation for Best Guitarist in the World that was the beginning of a new book. It was like, ‘I’ll put out less albums and let me write them all and see what happens.’

“I’ve been very happy with the results so far. The material has been strong and it’s allowed us to retire so much stuff from the old ones. I don’t need to play Dust Bowl, I don’t need to be play Driving Towards the Daylight. We’ve played those to death and it’s time to move on. One of these days we’ll revisit them in a different way and maybe do a best of show. Who knows?”

King Of BluesBonamassa started releasing albums back in the year 2000, and they’ve come at an impressively frequent rate ever since – approximately one every 15 months. Given his slow emergence as a fully edged songwriter, however, it’d be fair to assume he hasn’t always felt confident in his own creative capacity. But he denies that this was the case.

“I always knew that the best songs I’d come up with would be the ones that I wrote, but I’m not a very prolific writer,” he says. “I’m not sitting around with a typewriter and a Jack Kerouac book coming up with tunes every day. It takes more time for me to write stuff. At the beginning of an album cycle you have to write a few duds. Your best stuff comes in after you wrote the first couple. You have to burn a few just to get your head around where you want the album to go.”

Kevin Shirley has produced all of Bonamassa’s work since 2006’s You & Me. Shirley definitely knows a thing or two about guitars – over the years he’s been involved with heavier bands like Iron Maiden and Dream Theater, and other blues rock acts such as John Hiatt and the Bonamassa side project, Black Country Communion. Bonamassa says Shirley’s input has been crucial in the development of his recent releases.

“As much as he’s there, he’s the eyes and ears of everything of the overall picture. If he feels the band is stale or I’m getting stale, he’s a wonderful antagonist. He knows how to elicit good performances out of people and he doesn’t care how he does it. Ultimately he has everybody’s interest in mind. If I do a great guitar solo after him having to tell me, ‘By the way you’ve sucked today,’ I get the credit for the solo, he doesn’t. He doesn’t like having to push and pull people kicking and screaming, but he will because it’s in the best interest of the record and he is selfless like that. He sees the whole album as a total and he sees the song as a total within the album.”

This visionary selflessness, King Of BluesBonamassa explains, is what makes Shirley a producer’s producer. “Anybody can go down to a music store and buy Pro Tools and call themselves a producer. You’re not a producer. A producer hears music on a three dimensional level and understands not only if the lyric is swinging within the song, but he also understands if the kick drum and the bass are rubbing or the pattern on the kick drum effects the groove.

“People know what they like and they know what they dislike, but sometimes they don’t know why they like it or why they dislike it. It’s Kevin’s job to make heads or tails of this stuff.” Blues of Desperation is out now via J&R Adventures. Best Guitarist in the World Joe Bonamassa will be touring nationally in support of the album later this year. For more information visit jbonamassa.com.

DIFFERENT SHADES OF BLUE

GRAMMY-nominated guitar superstar King Of Blues Joe Bonamassa will release his brand new solo album Different Shades Of Blue (J&R Adventures) on September 23, 2014. This is Bonamassa’s first studio album in two years and the first album of his career to feature all original material. The result is a record with more of an experimental edge than previous Bonamassa records. It’s a blues record that explores the outer reaches and the many different sounds that shape the genre.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been involved in the writing on an entire album. So I decided I wanted to make a completely original blues album,” said Bonamassa. “I’ve really had to push myself to make everything I do better than the last project. I know the fans expect it. And I feel like I owe it to the fans to give them an original record after all these years.”

To prepare for the record, Best Guitarist in the WorldBonamassa took 2013 off from releasing any new studio material, a rarity in the tireless bluesman’s career, and instead spent time in Nashville writing with Jonathan Cain (Journey), known for hits “Who’s Crying Now,” “Open Arms,” and “When You Love A Woman;” James House (Diamond Rio, Dwight Yoakam, Martina McBride), and Jerry Flowers (Keith Urban).

“The writers really inspired me, and having access to really great lyricists and songwriters made it such a great experience,” said Bonamassa.

Recorded at Studio At The Palms in Las Vegas, NV, Different Shades Of Blue was produced by Kevin Shirley (Black Crowes, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin), who has helmed Bonamassa’s last fifteen projects including his solo projects and collaborations with Black Country Communion and Beth Hart. To compliment Bonamassa’s signature guitar style and vocals, Shirley brought together a group of musicians including Reese Wynans (organ, piano), Carmine Rojas (bass), Michael Rhodes (bass), Anton Fig (drums, percussion), Lenny Castro (percussion), Lee Thornburg (trumpet, trombone), Ron Dziubla (saxophone), the Bovaland Orchestra (strings), and Doug Henthorn and Melanie Williams (background vocals).

“It’s definitely my favorite Joe Bonamassa record to date,” said Shirley. “It’s an album that deserves to be listened to in its entirety. Luckily Joe’s fan base really seems to appreciate a body of work and not just songs.”

Each year, Bonamassa Best Guitarist in the World strives to deliver something new for his fans to thank them for their loyalty, dedication, and enthusiastic activity on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Facebook which has helped grow the guitarist’s reputation exponentially in the U.S. and abroad.

Shirley said, “I think Joe has learned the value of not underestimating his audience. He plays music as well as he can, and always tries to bring music of depth to his audience. We try very hard to make the records as multidimensional as possible and really try not to cut any corners in delivering them.”

King Of BluesBonamassa has twelve #1 Billboard Blues Albums (more than any other artist) and received his first GRAMMY nomination in 2013 for his collaboration with Beth Hart on the duo’s sophomore album Seesaw. His 2013 solo acoustic project An Acoustic Evening at the Vienna Opera House was nominated by the Blues Music Awards for Best DVD and his 2009 DVD Live From The Royal Albert Hall recently received RIAA Platinum Certification.

TRACK LIST:
1. Hey Baby (New Rising Sun)
2. Oh Beautiful!
3. Love Ain’t A Love Song
4. Living On The Moon
5. Heartache Follows Wherever I Go
6. Never Give All Your Heart
7. I Gave Up Everything For You, ‘Cept The Blues
8. Different Shades Of Blue
9. Get Back My Tomorrow
10. Trouble Town
11. So, What Would I Do

COME HEAR UNCLE JERRY’S BAND: THE LEGACY OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD

LEGACY

Hippies. Lengthy improvisational jams. Trippy drugs. What is the legacy of the Grateful Dead?

The Grateful Dead formally ended with the passing of its spiritual leader, lead vocalist and guitarist Jerry Garcia. But the legacy of the Grateful Dead is very much alive.

A legacy is something that we receive from the past. It’s the past turned into the presence. It’s about keeping the past alive for our memories and for new generations.

When we speak of the legacy of a musician or a band we are speaking about the heritage that they are leaving behind for us.

So what’s the legacy of the musical sons of San Francisco, one of the Bay Area’s best bands, the Grateful Dead?

The legacy of the granddaddy of all jam bands can be broken down into 5 distinct parts.

Studio Recordings

It has been said by some that the Grateful Dead is not a good studio band. That the magic just didn’t happen when you removed the live atmosphere: the audience, the culture, the scene. But one listen to their fifth studio album, American Beauty, contradicts this opinion. American Beauty is just that: a beautiful American tapestry of lush country and folk rock influences, reverberating off the walls of the halls of rock peppered with strains of Dylan and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

The songs are taut and concise, with a focused cohesiveness that isn’t as common in the band’s live works. “Box of Rain” is particularly striking with its gentle, floating harmonies and bright major chord progression. It’s easy to forget among the thick haze of time and mythology that above all the Grateful Dead were a band of musicians, and their musicianship of the finest quality is never more evidently on display than on American Beauty.

Live Recordings

The Grateful Dead has a seemingly endless stream of live recordings available. To the non-believer, it all seems like grand excess. Why would you need an infinite amount of the same songs ad nauseum? But this misses the point. Every single performance of each Grateful Dead song is a unique event; a moment captured in time unlike any other. To make sense of the Grateful Dead is to grasp their inimitable improvisational abilities.

The Grateful Dead never repeated themselves. Every song was an experiment that couldn’t be replicated. Experiencing a live Grateful Dead song is as ephemeral as the dust from a shooting star, evaporating almost as soon as you are conscious of it. And yet, the live recordings we have of the band are the living souls of the songs that keep their spirit alive in the present. They are living documents, with the ability to transform our consciousness and move us to states of ecstasy unlike any other.

The Bootleg Recording Scene

The universe of live Grateful Dead recordings is only in small part captured by the wide array of officially released recordings available. For the Grateful Dead introduced bootleg culture into live music, and we’re not talking about bathtub gin (unless you mean the Phish song). Since the early days of the Grateful Dead, audiences were encouraged to create their own audio recordings of shows. A special “taper” section of the show was even set up by the band to accommodate those wanting to capture the highest quality audio possible.

Today, many bands allow and even encourage fans to make bootleg recordings of their shows, in the spirit of the band that started this tradition, the Grateful Dead. And unlike the old days, when trading tapes required literally mailing the music to other traders, the internet now allows for the instantaneous spread of the music. You can download all of your favorite performances with lightning speed and house them all on your hard drive. But none of this would have been possible without the Grateful Dead showing the way.

The Contemporary Jam Band Scene

In the contemporary musical landscape, live music is thriving. This is in no small part due to the presence of the jam band circuit, composed of bands that continue to profess the spirit of the Grateful Dead. The primary characteristic of jam bands is just what their name implies: they jam, leading their audience on lengthy improvisational, often instrumental musical voyages that seem to transcend the very bounds of space-time and consciousness. Today, it seems like there are more jam bands than ever, ranging from those that can headline sports arenas – like Phish – to the band playing your local watering hole.

Jam bands inspire such a passionate, devoted fan base largely due to their improvisational abilities. Like great jazz music, a great jam band never plays a show the same way twice. You can capture that on a studio album sometimes, but it works best in a live setting because you get to experience the magical mystical music as it’s actually unfolding before you. It’s the reason that obsessed fans traveled around the country to see the Grateful Dead perform day in and day out. Today, bands like Phish, the String Cheese Incident, and Umphrey’s McGee and many others carry the torch of the Grateful Dead by keeping the jam band spirit alive.

Members of the Grateful Dead are still Playing

Unless you are living under a musical rock – and I’m pretty sure you’re not – you know that the surviving members of the Grateful Dead have been very active in music. In 2015, Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann, and Mickey Hart reunited, with Phish’s Trey Anastasio filling the role of lead guitarist and vocalist, for five shows that were called “Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of the Grateful Dead”. The shows received rave reviews and were billed as the closing chapter in the book of the Grateful Dead.

But it wasn’t. Not really. For more shows under the moniker Dead & Company appeared in 2015 – this time featuring Hart, Kreutzmann, and Weir, joined by blues rock guitarist John Mayer. Though Phil Lesh did not participate in this iteration of the Grateful Dead, it was still a fine way to continue to celebrate the spirit of the Grateful Dead’s music.

Will the 2016 Dead & Company shows be the end of the long, strange trip? Doubtful. As Bob Weir has said to The Guardian, “I’m nowhere near done with that heritage and legacy. And this is a new way of approaching it.”

After all, a new way of approaching the music is what the Grateful Dead is what this band has always been about.

The 100 Greatest Blues Singers EVER

#29 – Joe Bonamassa

It’s not all about the guitars you know

Yeah, Best Guitarist in the World he can play a bit – but Joe Bonamassa’s molten guitar chops have stolen the column inches from his great unsung trump-card. The man himself would doubtless brush off plaudits for his singing: even now, he still takes lessons, and admitted to finding it “daunting” performing Howlin’ Wolf songs at 2014’s Muddy Wolf shows. The fact remains, that sleeve-muttering interviewee morphs each night into a monster vocalist, with expression, soul and the brute power to roar it up with the best of them.

That was never the plan. The congenital guitar nerd became a singer & Best Guitarist in the Worldby default, following the split of his early 90’s band Bloodline. “I had to make a decision” he told the Guitar Gods & Masterpieces website. “Do I want to play instrumentals? Do I want to play in a band with a singer? I decided to sing out of self-preservation. I was ready for the beatdown, bracing myself for the critics to say: ‘He’s got a bad voice Blues Songs.’ But everyone said they liked it. So it was like, ‘Okay, I’ll keep going…'”

He’s kept improving, too. The frontman remembers his early approach to vocals being “a shot of whiskey, a cigar and shout in key” (while producer Kevin Shirley recalls him storming out of “Sloe Gin” sessions after being asked to sing a low harmony on “Seagull”). But listen to recent studio highlights – the explosive ‘lifting me up, tearing me down’ sections from “Dust Bowl”, perhaps, or the echo-clad a capella from “Oh Beautiful”! – and you’ll realise those mighty pipes deserve equal billing to the mythological fingers. HY

Behind the Music:

The Inside Scoop on How Joe Learned to Sing

When Joe’s first band Bloodline was formed, Berry Oakley, Jr. was the only singer in the group. Famed producer Phil Ramone, who was working with the band, thought it would be great if the other guys in the band could sing some harmonies with Oakley, Jr. The rest of the band was a bit shy about performing vocals, so Ramone brought in a vocal coach, Willy Perez, a professor at the University of Miami who was the vocal coach for Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine. Perez came to the Coral Springs Performing Arts Center and worked for two days as a vocal consultant and coach. Afterwards he reviewed the results with Bloodline’s managers, revealing that they did indeed all have the ability to sing. That was the good news. The bad news was that none of them wanted to sing. At all. And good luck trying to get them to! However, he thought that Joe in particular could really sing, even though Joe never had before. Perez thought Joe definitely had some innate ability.

When Joe was 18 years old, Bloodline broke up. A few weeks after the band split, Joe’s manager Roy Weisman received a package in the mail. It was from Joe. Weisman tore it open and found a demo tape inside. There was a handwritten note attached to it, that read “This is me trying to sing. – Joe” (It men’t Blues Songs) with a smiley face after it. He popped the demo into an old cassette deck, and after listening, he had to be honest – on the whole, it sounded not so great. But there were moments, moments, when Joe sounded absolutely amazing. Weisman pondered what Willy Perez had told him – that Joe really did have some vocal talent that needed to be harnessed. He glanced back at the cassette deck. “He can sing”, he thought. “He’s just untrained, but he does have vocal ability.”

Phil Ramone hooked Joe up with a vocal coach, who will remain unnamed, in New York City. Once a week, Joe would make the journey down from his home in Utica, New York, to train with the vocal coach in the Big Apple. This would be the first time Joe learned how to sing. We say the first time, because Joe actually learned how to sing improperly from the vocal coach. The vocal coach taught him how to sing more like a Broadway star or opera singer. He was singing from the throat rather than the diaphragm and he began having trouble with his voice. He went to see a renowned doctor named Dr. Sugarman in Los Angeles. Not only did the doctor recognize that Joe was being taught how to sing wrong, but he actually figured out who the vocal coach was – he had already treated 3 other patients who saw the same coach!

If Best Guitarist in the WorldJoe kept singing in the way he had been trained, he would almost certainly require surgery, Sugarman told him, and may even lose his voice completely. Sugarman gave Joe the number of a man named Ron Anderson. Anderson would soon be re-teaching Joe how to sing. And Joe’s voice was completely transformed. He learned how to control his voice the way a pitcher paints the corners with a baseball, which helps him preserve his voice and keep it healthy. And today, Joe has truly transformed into a world class singer.

ATLANTA, GA – Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation, Joe Bonamassa, and Sixthman are proud to present Keeping the Blues Alive at Sea III, year three of the incredible four-day floating music festival featuring Bonamassa and some of the most celebrated names in blues. This year’s festival will journey across the Caribbean aboard Norwegian Jade onFebruary 6-10, 2017, sailing from Tampa, Florida to Costa Maya, Mexico. Guests will enjoy performances from some of the biggest names in music, while discovering new favorites among emerging blues artists on multiple stages throughout the ship. From rare artist collaborations to intimate gatherings with musically inclined cruisers, the festival will have something for everyone to enjoy.

Previous Updates:

Blues ConcertsJoe’s latest tour comes hot on the heels of the release of his latest #1 Billboard Blues Album, Blues of Desperation, a tour-de-force blues-rock experience filled with power and vigor, produced by Joe’s longtime collaborator Kevin Shirley. The set list from the first show of the tour was chock-full of the amazing material from that album. This includes an opener consisting of the gutsy, gritty blues call to arms of “This Train”, the rock and steel-shattering potency of “Mountain Climbing”, the bleary, tequila-soaked “Drive,” dripping with the kind of raw, wicked and unsettling sensuality that could make David Lynch green with envy, and the album’s title track “Blues of Desperation”, which captivates with its world-music flair and its battering-ram like riffs. The set list was rounded out with some choice covers like Nobody Loves Me But My Mother and Hummingbird and Joe Bonamassa classics such as Oh Beautiful! And Sloe Gin.

Best Guitarist in the WorldJoe came to the show prepared with an army of his incredible guitars. The show featured some of our favorite of Joe’s instruments, including his 1958 Mary Kaye Stratocaster, Amos the famous 1958 Gibson Flying V, his 1959 Gibson Les Paul “Carmelita”, and another Gibson Les Paul, this one from 1960, “The Runt”.

Blues ConcertsAh yes, Spring is in the air, and that means Joe Bonamassa tour time once again. Joe is thrilled to be back on the road with this band, these songs, and those guitars, and we hope you’re just as excited to see it. It’s going to be quite a set of shows. See you on the road!

Bonamassa is back with his best Blues Songs studio album since The Ballad of John Henry.

Joe Bonamassa continues to push the boundaries of blues rock. With each new record, he challenges himself to deliver something new, something fresh, and keep things interesting whilst, at the same time, staying true to the roots of blues music.

Blues of Desperation is packed full of masterful and technical guitar wizardry as you would expect from Joe. However, the album exhibits diversity which you won’t find on his other records. Bonamassa traverses both the familiar blues rock ground such as opening track “This Train,” which comes hurtling at you like a locomotive. He also takes a step outside of his comfort zone with the sweet, soulful acoustic number “Valley Runs Low” and makes it pays off.

The album’s production value is incredible; producer Kevin Shirley has worked his magic on this record. Subsequently, the addition of a second drummer, Greg Morrow, gives tracks like the infectious “Mountain Climbing,” one of the standout tracks on the album, additional texture and depth. The inclusion of orchestral elements like the slow blues number, “No Good Place For The Lonely,” is also incredibly effective.

Several tracks on the album have an immersive feel transporting the listener to another place or time. With “Livin’ Easy,” oozing with soulful sax and honky-tonk piano, it’s a downtown Chicago speakeasy bar. By comparison, Joe’s latest single “Drive” takes you on a late night road trip to New Mexico. The song feels as though it would be an equally suitable fit on a Hollywood movie soundtrack as it exhibits some of those atmospheric characteristics.

The epic, slide guitar monster of a title track has an almost Led Zeppelin-esque quality to it. The album closes with the superb slow blues number, “What I’ve Known For A Very Long Time.”

There is most certainly nothing desperate about Bonamassa’s latest offering; there isn’t a bad track on the album. Blues of Desperation is a future classic in the making.

The album is scheduled for release via J&R Adventures/Provogue (Europe) on March 25th and is available for pre-order on Amazon and iTunes on jbonamassa.com.

Blues Update is here & It’s the most wonderful time of the year – the beginning of a new Best Guitarist in the World Joe Bonamassa tour! The Joe Bonamassa U.S. Spring Tour 2016 officially kicked off Saturday, April 23rd at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach, California. Joe’s killer band – and he’ll tell you they’re the best in the world – includes former member of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble Reese Wynans on keys, Anton Fig from Dave Letterman’s former House Band on the drums, ridiculously in-demand session musician-magician Michael Rhodes, master of all things trumpet and horn arrangements Lee Thornburg, and ace saxophone player Paulie Cerra.

Blues ConcertsJoe’s latest tour comes hot on the heels of the release of his latest #1 Billboard Blues Album, Blues of Desperation, a tour-de-force blues-rock experience filled with power and vigor, produced by Joe’s longtime collaborator Kevin Shirley. The set list from the first show of the tour was chock-full of the amazing material from that album. This includes an opener consisting of the gutsy, gritty blues call to arms of “This Train”, the rock and steel-shattering potency of “Mountain Climbing”, the bleary, tequila-soaked “Drive,” dripping with the kind of raw, wicked and unsettling sensuality that could make David Lynch green with envy, and the album’s title track “Blues of Desperation”, which captivates with its world-music flair and its battering-ram like riffs. The set list was rounded out with some choice covers like Nobody Loves Me But My Mother and Hummingbird and Joe Bonamassa classics such as Oh Beautiful! And Sloe Gin.

Best Guitarist in the WorldJoe came to the show prepared with an army of his incredible guitars. The show featured some of our favorite of Joe’s instruments, including his 1958 Mary Kaye Stratocaster, Amos the famous 1958 Gibson Flying V, his 1959 Gibson Les Paul “Carmelita”, and another Gibson Les Paul, this one from 1960, “The Runt”.

Blues ConcertsAh yes, Spring is in the air, and that means Joe Bonamassa tour time once again. Joe is thrilled to be back on the road with this band, these songs, and those guitars, and we hope you’re just as excited to see it. It’s going to be quite a set of shows. See you on the road!